QuakeCon 2022 Will Once Again Be A Digital-Only Event

This year’s QuakeCon, to be held August 18-20, will be a digital-only event, ZeniMax Media has announced. This will be the third straight year the annual Dallas, Texas-based fan convention has been digital-only.

It’s no doubt disappointing for fans who usually attend the convention, as QuakeCon is in many ways defined by its large, in-person “BYOC” (Bring Your Own Computer) LAN party as much as it is a celebration of id Software FPS franchises like Doom and Quake.

“Like you, we’re disappointed to not return to Dallas this year,” a statement from the official QuakeCon Twitter account reads. “An event this size requires months of planning, and in this case, we had to make decisions when there was still too much uncertainty to commit to successfully executing an in-person QuakeCon.”

The good news is that showrunners are “committed” to QuakeCon returning as in-person event for 2023, and “looking forward to reconnecting with friends, a massive BYOC packed with your latest custom PC creations, our wild contests, and tons of great new games and hardware for attendees to try out.”

The QuakeCon statement shared via Twitter states that online programming, meetups, giveaways, charity drives, the virtual BYOC, and more are currently being put together for this year’s event. More specific details on the show will be shared in June.

While originally a celebration of classic FPS franchises, QuakeCon has more recently become a wider showcase for games published by id Software owner Bethesda (which is now also owned by Microsoft). Last year, Bethesda announced a new re-release of the original Quake featuring enhanced visuals and cross-play, as well as shared updates for games like Doom Eternal, Deathloop, Fallout 76, and The Elder Scrolls Online at the digital-only event.

QuakeCon going digital for 2022 isn’t unexpected, but does come at a time when more conventions are returning to in-person events. This year’s Game Developers Conference was in-person, and Gamescom will also return as an in-person event later this year. Other shows, most notably E3, won’t be happening at all in 2022.